Boiling question

[steveca]

I brewed a beer back in February that turned out to be pretty bad. One main concern was that I forgot to sanitize the primary so eventually I could smell a very off putting smell that I can only attribute to contamination. Another thing that makes me worried is concerning hop boiling.

That beer was a rye stout so it shouldn't have tasted the way it did, way too bitter. The only thing I can think of is that the kettle I was using wasn't entirely on the burner, a flattop stove, so that the hop didn't entirely dissolve, leaving behind that taste.

I just brewed a scotch ale and am hoping that I didn't repeat the same mistake again. It smells a bit hoppy but that is before it's even in the primary. When I put the kettle directly on the burner, the boil is not as violent as if it was when off centered. But as a result, the boil is unevenly distributed and boils only on one side. So I'm wondering if I am not boiling at a powerful level and it is the cause of a bitter flavor. I just don't want to wait a few months and make the same mistake that I made with the rye stout.

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[frazier]

Scotch ale should be low on hops, and not very bitter. What's the recipe?

Center the pot on the burner. If your burner can't bring the pot to a good boil, you could try splitting the boil using two pots. That's what I do, it works.

 

[bja]

Without seeing the recipes you used, no one can tell you if anything was wrong, but the way you boiled certainly had no effect on anything.

 

[unionrdr]

Those smooth top stoves can be a pain with regular metal pots. The bottom can get bowed up,leaving the center not touching the burner. That's where the uneven boil is coming from. But the excess bitterness is likely recipe related.

 

[steveca]

The first recipe was an extract rye stout with only 1 oz of Warrior hops. The scotch ale is an extract with 2 oz of First Gold. Both 60 minute boils.

Unionrdr, that's perfectly reasonable. I should really convert to a burner, maybe someday.

Thanks for the answers. Reassuring for sure.

 

[unionrdr]

I hope that insight helps. I use to have a Corning "radarange" That was a smooth top. Metal pots were a pain to get a boil.

 

[HuxleysBrew]

If it smells a bit too hoppy just age it a tad longer. The aromatic side of hops tends to dissolve over time. The flavor is more what you should pay attention to. That sticks more.